2024 At First Glance: Week 8 Nebraska Cornhuskers

Written by: TJ Inman

Welcome back to Hoosier Huddle’s ‘At First Glance’ series as we preview Indiana’s homecoming opponent, the Nebraska Cornhuskers.

Week Eight: Nebraska Cornhuskers

Date & Time: Saturday, October 19/Time is TBD

Venue: Memorial Stadium

TV: TBD

Cornhuskers at a Glance

Head Coach: Matt Rhule 

Entering his second season as Nebraska head coach

Record at Nebraska: 5-7

Overall Record: 52-50

Last Season: 5-7 (3-6)

Cornhuskers Returning Leaders

Passing: Heinrich Haarberg – 77 for 157 (49%) for 967 yards with 7 TDs and 7 INTs

Rushing: Emmett Johnson – 90 carries for 411 yards (4.57 yards per carry) with two touchdowns

Receiving: Thomas Fidone – 25 catches for 260 yards with four touchdowns

Tackles: Isaac Gifford – 86 tackles

Cornhuskers Preseason Predictions

Athlon: 7th in the Big Ten

Lindy’s: 8th in the Big Ten

Phil Steele: 7th in the Big Ten

SP+: 40th Nationally

Impact Newcomers for the Cornhuskers

-Dylan Raiola – QB – 5-star freshman

-Dante Dowdell – RB – Sophomore transfer from Oregon

-Isaiah Neyor – WR – Senior transfer from Wyoming

-Jahmal Banks – WR – Senior transfer from Wake Forest

Biggest Questions Facing the Cornhuskers

-Is Dylan Raiola Ready For Launch?-

Few players have entered college football as true freshmen with more hype, expectations and pressure than Dylan Raiola. Once committed to Georgia, Raiola is a legacy Cornhusker that flipped to Nebraska and now carries with him the weight of Husker Nation as they strive to return to the national picture. He physically looks the part but it will not be easy to immediately step in and take the reigns of the offense. The Huskers don’t really have anyone they would feel comfortable turning to if Raiola gets hurt or just isn’t ready. If Nebraska is to return to a bowl game, the answer to this question has to be “yes”.

-Has Nebraska Fixed the Passing Game?-

A new quarterback is not the only thing that was needed in order to fix Nebraska’s passing game. In 2023, Billy Kemp IV led the team with 35 catches and 310 yards. They only had three players with more than eight catches. The pass catching stats nearly resemble those of an option team. Nebraska had to bring in weapons at wide receiver to help Raiola and they landed Jahmal Banks from Wake Forest and Isaiah Neyor from Texas (formerly of Wyoming). Can all of the changes combine to turn the passing game completely around to an acceptable level?

-Will Turnovers Continue to Plague Nebraska?-

The past few seasons have seen Nebraska make a habit of beating themselves. Late game execution and close losses were a theme for Scott Frost’s teams and backbreaking turnovers were a major issue in 2023 for Matt Rhule’s first squad. Nebraska had a whopping 31 giveaways in 2023 and were minus 17 in turnover margin last season. That was very nearly last in the country. No team turned it over more than the Huskers. Fixing that problem has been a theme all offseason for Nebraska.

Program Preview

From 1969 to 2002, the Nebraska Cornhuskers won at least nine games each and every season. They were a remarkably consistent juggernaut. Things have changed quite a bit since 2002. The Huskers have had a losing season each of the past seven campaigns and have not been to a bowl game since 2016 when they lost the Music City Bowl. From 2017 to 2023, a period of time in which Nebraska was benefitted by being in the weak Big Ten West, the Huskers have a record of 28-52. For those of us that came of age during Nebraska’s era of dominance, the drop-off is truly difficult to believe. There are many reasons for it: recruiting becoming more national for nearly all programs because of television exposure now being spread around to more than a few marquee programs, the rise of offenses beyond Nebraska’s dominant option attack, the fact that Tom Osborne is no longer leading the program. Many have compared Nebraska football to Indiana basketball and there are some similarities. An iconic coach led both teams to massive success, both schools have struggled to move on from said iconic coach, etc. The comparison really sells Nebraska’s dominance through the 1980s and 1990s short. Nebraska lose zero or one conference games 18 times in a 20-year span. That is nearly unprecedented success over an extended period. The Cornhuskers won’t be returning to that level of dominance. Big Red has a lot of reasons to believe they are well on their way to returning to bowl games though. Matt Rhule has a strong record of turning programs around in year two (Temple and Baylor) and he has already built a very solid base on defense to build around. Nebraska has a strong NIL program and recruiting is going well. Perhaps most importantly, they landed the five-star quarterback that could serve as the lynchpin to really get the program back into consistent bowl contention. Nebraska has a passionate fan base that has been desperate to get back into the postseason and build from there, they have a schedule that should see that as the expectation for 2024. 

Offensive Preview

Nebraska’s 2023 offense was a disaster. It began in the offseason with the choice to bring in Jeff Sims as the transfer portal addition at quarterback. Sims was mostly a disaster, completing only 28 of 47 passes with a whopping six interceptions. Nebraska gave Chubba Purdy a chance and he failed to spark things and Heinrich Haarberg did his best but was mostly more of the same. The Huskers totaled just a 52.1 completion percentage and the trio combined to throw only ten touchdowns compared to 16 interceptions. The play of the quarterbacks hindered everything the offense tried to do as Nebraska turned the ball over more than any other team in the country. Dylan Raiola is tasked with providing an immediate upgrade at quarterback, something that he should be able to do. Indiana will be playing the Huskers squarely in the middle of the season so Raiola will have some experience but the Hoosiers will have some film to scout off of as well. 

Beyond the quarterback, Nebraska feels like they have upgraded the skill positions in a big way. The wide receivers are led by transfers Jahmal Banks (653 receiving yards and four touchdowns in 2023 at Wake Forest) and Isaiah Neyor (878 yards and 12 touchdowns in 2021 at Wyoming) plus returning young players Nebraska hopes are ready to step up. Neyor has played in a total of one game during the past two seasons so staying healthy and getting back to game speed will be a challenge. Jaylen Lloyd is the most exciting option of the group. He only had six receptions in his true freshman season but he did a lot of damage with those receptions averaging 39.5 yards per reception. In comparison to Indiana, Nebraska falls short, both in terms of proven production and proven depth. It should be a better unit than they had in 2023 though. The running back position is in better shape. Gabe Ervin Jr. returns after missing most of the 2023 campaign with an injury and he is joined by returning sophomore Emmett Johnson. The wildcard is Dante Dowdell, a transfer from Oregon that was a top 200 recruit in 2022 and played in six games last season for the Ducks. Dowdell will likely begin the season as the backup for Ervin and Nebraska figures to be a handful to stop on the ground. The offensive line is not elite but they should be above average with a good returning group that just needs to improve in pass protection. Bryce Benhart, returning right tackle, is the best of the group and center Ben Scott is a very good center. They need Teddy Prochazka to be healthy and be an upgrade at left tackle. 

Defensive Preview

Nebraska being close to a bowl game in 2023 was entirely due to the defense giving them a chance to win. Defensive coordinator Tony White is a rising star in the profession at defensive coordinator and the Huskers kept him despite several links to other jobs. Nebraska returns a lot of production and is anchored by mammoth nose tackle Nash Hutmacher and safety Isaac Gifford. 

The defensive line should be good but they could definitely use another impact pass rusher or two. Jimari Butler led Nebraska in 2023 with 5.5 sacks, a number that is not strong for a leading sack artist. In fact, only six players had more than 1.5 sacks during the season and Nebraska does not really have a defensive end that offenses would be scared of. Nash Hutmacher is a terrific nose tackle but the defense will need to find more impact linemen beyond him and Ty Robinson. They have to replace linebacker Luke Reimer and are going to rely on transfer Stefon Thompson (Syracuse) plus returners Javin Wright and John Bullock. The secondary should be good once again. Tommi Hill is a good cornerback that led the team in interceptions and Isaac Gifford is a unique safety that is probably better as a tackler and run-support specialist than he is in pass coverage but he’s a really good player that will contend for All-Big Ten. Who steps in at the other corner spot is a question. 

Nebraska really needs to find a way to create more turnovers. They only forced 14 in 2023. If they can find a way to force a few more turnovers and then improve a little bit in the red zone (they were outside of the top 40 nationally), Nebraska could crack the top ten in total defense.  

Special Teams Preview

Nebraska has lot several close games over the past few seasons. Some of that is bad luck. Some of that is the turnovers coming at inopportune times. Some of that was poor coaching. Some of it was poor execution on special teams. They hope to have fixed the kicker position with Tristan Alvano. He is a returning starter after playing as a true freshman and making nine of his 15 attempts. Alvano is an above-average kickoff man but they need to see that make percentage increase in his sophomore season. Brian Buschini is also back at punter after averaging 40.7 yards per punt in 2023. He’s above average but would not be considered a top-level punter in the Big Ten. Long snapper could be a concern after one of the better ones in the country (Marco Ortiz) graduated. They are turning to Camden Witucki, a player that has yet to appear in a game. They could really use some juice in the return game and are hopeful redshirt freshman Kwinten Ives can provide a spark as a kick returner. 

There is a very real chance the Nebraska Cornhuskers make the trip to Bloomington sitting at 6-0. They have a bye week ahead of that game and open the season with UTEP, Colorado, Northern Iowa, Illinois, Purdue and Rutgers. The contest against Purdue is the only trip away from Lincoln of those six games. Colorado will be a primetime clash on NBC on September 7 and they play Illinois on a Friday night on FOX. If Nebraska is 6-0, they will be ranked coming to IU. This will be a team to keep an eye on throughout the first part of the season.